Teach Me Love
by Beckon
Summary: A collection of mindless drabbles, random thoughts and glorified oneshots.
1. ShunsuiNanao

**Even If I Wanted To**

_Shunsui/Nanao_

Carefully balancing a small stack of books in her arms, she shuffled her way down the corridor and had to use the curve of her hip to open the door at the end. After working two long shifts back to back, she was ready to settle down for a short break and take some time to catch up on her books; there were a few novels that were due back soon enough, so she would need to finish them first. Unfortunately, at the busiest time of the year like this, they needed just about every Officer on staff working- and knowing how her Division handled itself, she was needed at all times to keep things organized. And make sure someone didn't screw up somewhere.

But she needed her time just the same.

And no one was going to tell her different.

Shuffling her way into the quiet study, she settled the small collection of books down on the nearest table and started to pull out a free chair... before she noticed that she wasn't alone. A light frown caught onto the corners of her lips at the sight of the mess of pink and black that was collapsed on the couch in the far side of the room. Part of her was tempted to take her books and find some place else to read, but then she remembered that there really weren't any other rooms available right now... this room was supposed to be reserved for her. It wasn't necessarily written down anywhere but a lot of the Division members knew that since she frequented this area and they didn't want to cross her, that this study would be hers.

Unfortunately some people must not have gotten that memo.

Then again, she supposed as Division Captain, he had the right to go where he wished... but still, there were hundreds of other rooms to be in.

She knew he chose this place on purpose, he always did and she supposed he always will, just to be a nuisance to her. Well, perhaps nuisance was too tough of a word to use, even if so, it was the more correct ones regardless. Most of the other houses had their hard-working Captains who spent hours around the clock either tending to their Divisions, or keeping out on the training fields. She guessed Division Eight must have gotten the short end of the stack when they were passing out Captains. Now, she had no doubts of his strength and knowledge on the battlefield, she had witnessed him sparring a few times and even out in close-range combat; it was just difficult to keep up with those images when the ones where he was face down in the couch, taking a nap after drinking too much were far more prevalent.

Well, she supposed as long as he was quiet and didn't insist on chasing her about, then it would be alright.

For now.

Finally taking the chance to seat herself, she organized the collection of books with the ones that were closest to their return date pulled next to her, while the others balanced on the far corner of the table. She was just a few hundred pages away from finishing off _The Divine Comedy_, a couple of chapters off from the ending of _As I Lay Dying_ and still had half the book of _The Iliad_ to finish, but this was her third time reading it so it wouldn't take that long anyways.

And somewhere on the table was a book Matsumoto had lent to her as joke. It was one of those romance 'how-to' books she thought she would need; she didn't really see the humor in it but had taken it after the Tenth Lieutenant practically threw it at her before running off. It's bright pink cover was a bit hard to not notice... it was a bit of an eyesore really, but she thought she could laugh at herself for a bit and picked it up first. Her fingers flipped through the light pages and eyes brief skimmed a few paragraphs here or there.

There was nothing new to read though.

"What's that you're reading, Ise?"

Dark eyes glanced up from behind her frames to see where the man had somehow managed to flip over onto his back, one arm draped over the back of the couch while the other was dangling over the edge. His hat was pulled down to block his face from the faint light in the room and slightly muffled his voice when he talked. She supposed it would've been difficult not to notice how his uniform had been slightly pulled over to reveal a greater portion of his broad chest, but she wasn't going to say it. A brief sigh escaped her at the caught moment before she moved to push up on her glasses. "A book without pictures, Captain Shunsui. You wouldn't be interested."

A light chuckle left him as one hand moved over his hat for a moment, as though he was about to pull it off, before he rested his fingers against his open chest instead. "Where's the fun in that?"

Shaking her head, she went back to looking over the rather useless words that printed themselves out across the page in front of her. Nothing even entertaining to read... this sounded like a book Matsumoto would gossip about... not exactly something she would enjoy though.

"That cover's kinda bright."

"If I could tone it down, I would." she assured.

"Read me something from it."

Was he just trying to get on her nerves today? Still though, she supposed it wouldn't hurt to test out the knowledge this book was trying to pass on to her. Not to mention, he seemed to enjoy when she read out to him. "Alright, let me find a passage I can read out loud." she replied, skipping ahead a few pages to a new chapter. "Here's something for you. 'All men should consider what their first words are going to be in the case of approaching a woman; first impressions mean everything... and she's going to remember what your first words to her are going to be.'"

The man chuckled once more. "I'm going to have to remember that."

"I kind of wish more men knew about this and would stop thinking corny pick up lines are great impressions." Nanao remarked as she eventually closed the cover and tossed the book aside. "I could go a lifetime without hearing that stupid 'if I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put 'U' and 'I' together' line ever again."

"You're far too sophisticated for petty lines like that." he commented.

"The guy didn't seem too thrilled when I said that I didn't need to rearrange the alphabet because 'N' and 'O' are already together."

"That sounds like something you would say." the man laughed, moving one hand underneath his hat to scratch at a brief itch on his jaw. "Do you remember the first thing I said to you?"

She glanced up to him at the remark as she tried to figure out which book to pick up next- she was leaning more so towards _The Divine Comedy_ though. Fingers toyed with the slightly faded cover of the thick novel as she thought his question over for a moment. "The first thing you said to me was 'Excuse me, Miss, I couldn't help but notice that you seem to know your way around here... and I'm lost.' I don't think you really were though, I think it was just an excuse to follow me around for a short while."

"Oh, you found me out."


	2. UkitakeUnohana

**Alone With You**

_Ukitake/Unohana_

"It sure is raining hard out here." he remarked, frowning briefly at the sight of the heavy sheets of water that were splashing themselves freely around them; he watched as large droplets broke across the curve of the shingled roof that hung over the Thirteenth Division's oak wood porch. It felt like he had only stepped back inside for a moment, and yet when he returned, it looked like a hurricane had moved in and taken his spot. There was a minor chill in the air but that had been around since this morning... perhaps the new addition of rain just made it more obvious now.

The black-haired Captain of the Fourth Division glanced back towards him at the comment and passed off that ever light smile of hers. "It started up just a few minutes after you left. You missed out on a magnificent scene."

Chuckling lightly, he stepped back out on the sturdy porch and slid the door closed behind him. "I'm sure I'll see plenty more of them in my lifetime. Any idea if this might be Lieutenant Chojiro's work?"

"He has a distinct pattern in his work and treats a storm like this as a piece of art." she answered as she turned her attention back to the misty scene that laid out in front of them. "As far as I can tell, this style hasn't been marked by anyone's name. I suppose we'll just have to write a letter to Mother Nature and request that she hold off on the rain during moments like these."

"If only we knew if she'd answer our letters." He sighed playfully as he moved back over to where he had previously been seated at her side and regained his place once more. "Until then, I suppose we'll just have to bask in the mesmerizing beauty of it all."

She watched as he had to resettle himself back into the empty space at her side, still maintaining contact with the rather dreary sight in front of them. His long, white strands had been pulled back behind his shoulders earlier that morning but a few locks had managed to migrate over to accompany along the curve of his neck. The white jacket that joined his darker uniform pooled out around him and joined in the mixed folds with her own; despite the fact that the black symbols on the back differentiated each Division from each other, they still blended in as though they were one strip of material. "And there's never any lost time in that, right?" she posed. "However, I suppose this does put a minor damper on my plans."

The woman had dropped by with the sole purpose of only staying for the morning, having only a few hours to spare in her busy schedule. But with the sudden shower like this... well he couldn't just let her walk back to her Division in it. Not unless he accompanied her and she wouldn't allow for her to walk in a mess like this, citing that it would only irritate his illness. So until the rain let up, he supposed they were both going to be stuck here for a little while longer. Not that either of them would complain about the sudden inconvenience. If anything, he supposed he was glad for the rain.

"You know, my garden needed to be watered anyways." She commented, tugging lightly on her jacket as another chilling breeze passed by. "So I suppose this rain is saving me some time."

"Unfortunately, it's keeping you here." he reminded.

"I wouldn't say 'unfortunately.'" she corrected. "I'm sure Lieutenant Isane will realize the situation and keep the Division in order during my brief absence; she's responsible enough to handle the others for awhile."

He figured the woman held truth in her words and he knew that she put a lot of trust into her Lieutenant, who had to be the second hardest-working member in this Society. Sometimes it was hard to believe that the woman was related to the blonde-haired Officer who shared the Third Seat in his own Division; last he heard, Officers Kiyone and Sentaro were running out on an errand, but with the rain like this, he knew well they were probably busy wrestling in the mud now.

A faint chill made itself known as it rolled its way down his spine and caused his skin to shiver just ever so slightly. "It certainly has gotten colder out here, hasn't it?"

"It's a little chilly." she nodded. "Not quite like it was the month before, but still noticeable."

The rain had let up just slightly, at least enough for a clearer image to be settled in front of them, but the breeze had picked up for sure. Pushing himself back to his feet, he heard the familiar groan of his body protesting the movement but he easily ignored it for now, unwilling to let it ruin this moment. "If you'll excuse me for just a brief moment, I think there's a blanket stored in one of the closets by the door."

"Oh don't worry with it, we can always just go back inside." she started.

"I know how much you like to watch the rain, Retsu, and as a guest in my Division house, I am to make sure your visit is always the best it can be." he assured.

There was no changing his mind once it was set, usually more so if the topic revolved around her; in the end, she smiled once more and gave him a light nod to continue about his way. He always seemed to take pride in being able to do something for her, even if it was something as simple as fetching a blanket for the chill outside.

Stepping back into the noticeably warmer Division house, he made quick steps to the first closet closest to to him; pulling the slightly creaky doors open to reveal the small mess of things inside. There were unpacked, unnamed boxes that he sure someone here knew what they contained, but the knowledge of such escaped him. A brief search gave him nothing for what he was looking for, which pushed him to move onto the next set of doors. Another one of boxes and some unkept folders that were almost spewing out folded and faded reports that dated back months now.

Lucky for him, the third search unveiled exactly what he needed and he headed back to the porch as quickly as he could to make sure his Fourth Captain didn't suffer any longer.

"I can't say that I know where it came from, but there's a good chance it was hand sewed by my grandmother." he offered, stepping back out for the second time that hour. Carefully unfolding the thick material, he gave it a light shake and carefully draped it over the slender shoulders of the other Captain; watching as her graceful hands moved to get a secure hold over the loose corners.

"It certainly is the quality that she would've used." she agreed, feeling a calming sense of warmth rush over with the additional, thicker fabric covering over her thin uniform. She watched him seat himself next to her once more before she moved to toss one of the wide corners over his broader shoulders. "Now come on, we can't risk letting this chill irritate another outbreak."

He had really only retrieved the blanket for her... but if she insisted on sharing, he supposed he wouldn't reject the idea; after all, she wouldn't allow for him to anyways. She could be a rather demanding woman when it called for, not that she had to say anything twice or repeat herself, most people listened the first time around. He caught the piece she had given to him and moved to wrap it more fittingly around his shoulders, stretching the material between the two of them. That was until she moved herself closer to him, hands reaching to link the two sides together until the fabric was almost perfectly wrapped around them.

"See? Now this is a little better, isn't it?"


	3. HitsugayaMatsumoto

**Two Pink Lines**

_Hitsugaya/Matsumoto_

"Why are you so happy this morning? Isn't it too early for you to be expressive?" Nanao remarked as she pulled open the Eighth Division mail box and took the small bundle of letters inside.

"Isn't it a little too early for me to care?" Matsumoto replied in quick, easy words as she locked the Tenth Division box behind her; a larger bundle of letters and few folded magazines for herself were tucked under one arm. She watched as the other Division woman gave a light shake her head and might've chuckled briefly at the response, but went about her way to collect her own Division mail. "For your information, today just happens to be very special to me."

"As if I couldn't tell. You haven't looked that happy since the department stores downtown offered you a discount as long as you agreed to model some of their clothing."

"Yeah that was a pretty happy day, wasn't it." she mused before she pushed herself away from the large wall of mailboxes and started out of the small room. "I'll tell you about it later, Ise... if I run into you again, anyways."

"I probably don't want to know about it." the woman called back to her.

Chuckling, she continued on her way back towards her own Division, taking shortcuts through the backspaces of other barracks that remained in her way. Her nerves had kept her up for most of the early morning and she would've gotten up earlier had the motion not brought suspicion towards her... it was almost worst just waiting around for eight o'clock to roll in. And by then, she was fully dressed and out the door before anyone could have caught her. To say that she was nervous was a bit of an understatement, but she hid it well underneath her skin.

Hopping over the last of Division Nine's fences, she ducked into one of the few side doors that were available for the Tenth Division barrack; a lot of the building was under construction due to much needed repairs... and perhaps a minor mishap from Division Eleven that managed to tear its way into their property. She just remembered waking up to the sound of Captain Hitsugaya tearing Captain Kenpachi a new one, not that the taller man really cared for the matter. As long as they were going to cover the property damages though, they could deal with the hassles of caution tape and construction workers going for all hours of the day and night.

It was annoying but she did what she could to deal with it... which most of the time was complain to Hitsugaya about how she couldn't sleep anymore. He just rolled his eyes and informed her that there were worst things that could've happened.

Making her way down the winding corridor, where a few other Division Officers were milling about, she briefly shuffled her way through the thick letters in her hold. Her magazines could be held off for another time, probably when the construction would be keeping her awake again tonight; her main focus right now was on the multitude of letters. Manicured nails flipped easily through the thin envelopes, taking notice of the scribbled names in the center of them- the temptation to open a few was not beyond her though. The only one with printed letters on it caught her attention though, especially given that it had her name on it too. Pulling it out of the thick stack, she examined it a bit closer to see who the sender was before she stuffed it into the front of her uniform; a small, coy smile toying with the corners of her lips.

"Oh Captain..." she started, almost singing the words as she stepped into the open doorway of his office. Like always, he was seated at his desk, face first into his work as he moved through the stacks of papers in front of him. She didn't really know what kind of papers would keep him busy so often, but it seemed like there were always all kinds of folders being dropped off for him to deal with. "Mail's here."

He barely glanced up at the words, looking away from his work just long enough to see who it was before he returned to his papers. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

"There's actually one in here that you should probably-"

"Actually, now that you're here, there is something that I wanted to discuss with you." he interrupted as he put down his pen and leaned away from his desk for a moment. "A few of the other Officers have brought a couple of things to my attention-"

"Yeah, yeah, they don't matter. There's something in here I think you might want to open-"

"And I have to admit that they bring up a pretty good point as well."

A light frown caught her as she listened to him not even bother to pay attention to what she was trying to tell him. Which really wasn't anything new actually... he usually did it on a daily basis anyways. Still, this was something important, at least to her, and she wasn't about to let him just toss it aside. Pushing herself into his office, she slid the door closed behind her and made her way towards the cluttered desk between them. "Captain Hitsugaya, do you know what today is supposed to represent?"

It was only then that he seemed to notice her tense expression and the stacks of envelopes she tossed in front of him, although the white corner of one was peeking out from beneath her uniform. "... The day my heart stood still."

For a moment, she caught herself smiling once more.

"I mean, you got all of your reports done on time and they're actually on my desk for once. Which brings me back to my original statements here, I'm just saying that as of lately... you've been oddly productive."

Rolling her eyes, she let a heavy sigh escape her lips before she reached into her uniform and pulled out the envelope; moving to tap the corner of it against the tip of his nose. "Captain Hitsugaya, I want you to open this letter and read it very carefully. And when you're through with it, I want you to come and find me... and then we'll talk."

And with that, she turned back and found her way out of the office. Maybe a little frustrated and annoyed... but that smile still played on her lips regardless.

It only seemed to take him a few minutes to actually open the letter, but it was almost painfully obvious when he had finished reading it. "Rangiku!"

She laughed and put a little extra speed in her steps to make it more difficult for him to catch up to her. Of course, he'd have to find her first!


	4. YumichikaIsane

**Beautiful You**

_Yumichika/Isane_

"Hush now, quiet now..."

The words were soft as they departed from her lips, drawing in the tender curiosity of the child who had been safely tucked into her arms. Questioning eyes lifted up to make contact with her own and she felt that ever-familiar affectionate emotion well up in her chest for a moment; a dark shade of wisteria clouded around the small pupils that refused to look away from her. The corners of her lips lifted gently as she moved fingers to tug lightly on the soft blanket that wrapped around the small body in her hold. Any signs of previous distress from the infant were no longer visible and appeared to have been easily tossed away at the sound of her voice and sight of her approach.

She gave a playful sigh and studied the small face that had a few of her own traits mixed into it.

There were those dark, smokey wisteria eyes that seemed to complement the even darker shade of violet strands that were coming in; fingertips lightly brushed a few of the thin locks aside and she listened as a quiet giggle seemed to come in response. "Oh Yumiko, what am I going to do with you?"

Tiny fingers moving to wrap around a single one of hers provided an answer to her outward question.

Yumiko.

'Reason', 'beautiful', 'child.'

Even if she had lived very little up to this given point, being a week or two shy of three months, she was proving to fulfill her namesake. The early mornings and late nights reminded them all of how difficult it could be to reason with her, but it was the teasing way she would giggle at them upon waking up that made them realize how they were playing into her game. As her father would always recount, she was destined to be beautiful without a doubt. And while she liked to share a laugh or two at his expense... one couldn't disagree with his statement.

She was going to have thick, dark-violet hair like her father, who she also shared wisteria orbs with.

What the child had to inherit from her wasn't exactly noticeable right now, aside from her nose and lips at least... She just prayed the girl wouldn't take after her height-wise, or inherit some kind of nightmare gene that she possessed somehow. Maybe, at most, she'd take after her rather passive energy and follow in the steps of Division Four; if not, then Division Eleven best brace themselves for another star-struck beauty.

Even after the collective twelve months that had passed on by, she could still recall back to the nerve-wracking moment when she realized she was pregnant for the first time. It wasn't immediately noticed, but actually took close to five weeks before she even noticed something was different. She blamed the feeling of exhaustion on Division Four since they were still recovering from an epidemic of some sort passing around and had just finished back-to-back shifts of working around the clock; she just remembered thinking that maybe if she put her head into her hands and stared really hard at her desk... then everyone would think she was working hard, when in actuality she just wanted to sleep. When the nausea started to catch up to her, she told herself that the stupid illness had finally caught her. Captain Unohana advised that she take a few days off to recover even though she assured the woman she was perfectly capable of working still- and the Captain knew they needed every Division member working at this time.

Unfortunately, it had done little to phase the woman and she was sentenced to a couple of days of rest.

Looking back on it now, she was a little more grateful for the woman's urging because it started to poke holes in her theory that her exhaustion and sickness was based solely on her work. The over need for sleep and the urge to upchuck everything in her stomach had been the first two clues... and then it let to the fact that she had slept almost perfectly in the past two weeks; not once had she even been bothered by a nightmare or by cold sweats. The fourth note was that her nausea only occurred during certain parts of the day, or appeared to have been a reaction to something; Hanataro had finished cooking a few handpicked vegetables from the garden and... she almost didn't make it to the bathroom in time. The final straw was the full body ache that attacked her joints and hips, even her breasts had started to throb which was what confused her the most.

She broke down and, when the Division wasn't busy, ran a few tests on herself just to see what the her problems were.

Her problem came in the form of two pink lines.

She remembered her first reaction to it was to laugh, mainly at the absurdity of the matter... when the realization of it finally kicked in though, her emotions changed. It took a mess of counting back days and recalculating certain events before it all came down to one conclusion.

It was definitely positive.

It took her the remaining days of rest to pull herself back together and recall what had been momentarily lost; on her first shift back, things ran a bit more smoother and Captain Unohana remarked that she was glad to see how quickly she had recovered... and that she looked even better than she had before. She had to choke back the wanted confession and simply stated that a short break was really all she needed indeed.

The hour her shift ended though, she was the first one to clock out and depart.

She was an absolute mess when she called for him to meet her, which he gladly adhered to. The sight of him showcasing that grin of his for her helped to soothe her nerves a little more, at least to make them calm enough for her speak. He seemed to notice the way her hands nervously twisted in the thin material of her uniform and how she had a difficult time keeping eye contact with him; it didn't take him long to question.

The color drained away from his face when she finally answered him.

It took a few moments as words seemed to stutter briefly on his lips, syllables unable to make it past his tongue and teeth. Eventually, he forced himself to take a moment to draw in a deep breath before it eventually came out in a loud whisper.

_"We don't like children..."_

That was a fact she knew... often times before they would joke around with a situation like this, and they both agreed they had different faults on the topic of kids. She thought her height would make her clumsy and inattentive around children; he always just expressed that he had never seen a beautiful child before. She used to tease him that perhaps he should work on fixing that, but he always laughed and knocked the subject aside. Those were jokes and they were always followed by laughter... not this time though.

_"Fate's kind of funny that way, isn't she?"_

She had replied in half a response, not the least bit warming up to the topic.

He stood still a little bit longer before his hands moved to take a cautious hold of her own, his grip was loose as though he was afraid she was going to reject the motion. _"We could like this one though..."_

_"Do you think it'll be beautiful enough for you?"_

_"With you as the mother, without a doubt."_

There was a sense of reluctancy in the conversation but they both stepped away from it with a shared thought. In the following months, she noted that her height and body frame helped to hide it for the most part- which made it difficult to tell people of the truth since they didn't believe her. Captain Unohana showed a light sense of surprise but took the matter easily by congratulating the both of them and remarking that she'd have to have the other Division members review the procedures of childbirth- something she could've gone without hearing. The whole pregnancy continued on a bit easier than she had first expected but still had its annoyances from time to time, mainly with the nausea and the losing ability to see her own feet.

But when he occasionally bragged about the whole matter and turned into somewhat of a doting father-to-be, she figured she could get over the whole losing sight of her feet ordeal.

"Well if it isn't my favorite girl in the world."

She turned back at the remark and smiled lightly at the way he stood in the doorway for a moment before he pushed himself into the small nursery room.

"You too, Isane."

"Ah, what?" she questioned, listening to the way he seemed to chuckle at his own tease before she lifted the small child out of his range when he moved to reach for her; her extra inches in height easily gave her the advantage over him. "What was that you were saying?"

"Nothing, nothing, I promise." he offered, playing along with her as he tried to retrieve the infant she held out of his grasp. "You know you're my favorite still."

"You're going to have to try harder than that."


	5. AaronieroLoly

**Red Lipstick**

_Aaroniero/Loly_

When she stood before him in tight folds of black satin and hanging strings of pearls, it was difficult to look away. When she had those long, milk-white legs fitted into even paler stockings with the single black line running up the sides of them, he couldn't keep himself from staring. Ebony-locks were pulled back to showcase the soft, yet mature look of her curved jawlines and wide eyes; a faint hint of pink encircled the dark pupils he had long since connected with.

She made the empty space inside of his chest hurt.

She made every joint in his body ache, every muscle tense and every nerve frozen in their places; even his thoughts seemed to encircle themselves with just her, as though she was controlling his mental state just as well. Not that she really had much to control in the first place anyways... he had been infected with thoughts of her for months now.

He was far past being obsessed and infatuated.

He was stuck in that dangerous middle ground of mental stability and mental relapse. Part of him was content with speaking with her and the thought of asking her to take his arm... the other split side wanted to tie her down with those pearls and fill her body with his own.

Such a thin, dangerous line to cross.

There was that thought that told him his overdrawn obsession was only becoming worse because she didn't belong to him... she belonged to someone else, someone who seemed to tease him by keeping her in sight but out of distance. It only made him hate the both of them for a few seconds.

Given the chance though, he knew she would throw herself into his arms.

He knew she would rip this black, three piece suit from his frame and dig those goddamn nails of hers into his skin until he bled and begged her to stop.

Just the thought of those sharpening tips tearing new holding places into his body left a shearing thought to burn into the back of his head; fingers subconsciously moved to loosen the white tie that had been tightened around his neck.

Ever so lightly, he watched the subtle way she bit into her lower lip as those eyes of hers connected with his own once more; this time establishing longer contact and forcing his knees to almost give out from underneath him. Soft pink lips curved perfectly beneath the pressure of her teeth and he watched the way the tissue slowly pulled as she moved to release it. It made his chest throb even harder now, as though to make up for the lack of a heart... the pounding in his head seemed to be a suitable substitute for a heartbeat after all.

Short, watchful steps moved a careful sway throughout her small, slender frame, bringing attention to how the careful knot of material over her right hip seemed to pull in the tighten fabric around her waist.

What he wouldn't give to scrap her hips raw with his touch...

"I'm glad you decided to show up."

The words moved like white wine from her lips; crisp, elegant and fresh with a subtle hint of smokiness and a taste of sweet on the tip of the tongue.

"I'll meet you halfway on that remark."

She gave no movements, not even the slightest dip in her eyes or on the corners of her lips. "He gave me the chance to invite some people I enjoy the company of... you weren't too far from the top of the list."

A light chuckle moved from his lips as he tried not to let his mixed mindset get the best of him right now. "You're a cheat and a liar, you know that?"

His words had little affect on her and she only gave a light cock of her head to ensure that she acknowledged his statement. What might've only been a brief moment of silence was broken by her own responding chuckle. "But tonight I'm all you desire, aren't I?"

Perhaps it was his impending expression or his lack of one thereof.

Either way, she offered a second chuckle at his expense.

"I wore this dress for you, you know..." she whispered before she slowly moved to step past him, one hand reaching over to place itself against his chest on her way by. "Come collect it when you're ready."

He waited.

Waited for her to move past him and go to entertain a few of the other guests who had just arrived, her voice was filled with that fake sense of enthusiasm as she spoke praise about their presence here.

The thought about that dress belonging to him though... it would be enough to get him through the night. So few hours to pass by engaging with strangers and passing off fake compliments about their achievements, talking high about their false ideals of class. He passed a few words with the man who owned her, laughing and passing off dirty jokes to ease tension... knowing well that he'd be taking her on his arm and taking her in his bed.

He wasn't a man of patience though.

It was a virtue he didn't possess nor did he care for.

When the host wasn't looking, he took her by the hand and requested for her mark of absence from the group of people she had settled down with, using his earlier impressions to get on their good side. She looked at him in question but inside she had no doubts about his intentions... he had a debt to collect from her after all.

It was the hot gasps for air that burned against the side of his neck; her colorful words and screams that pierced his hearing and made his ears ring. Those same legs, still dressed in her stockings, were spread easily beneath him as his heavy hands pressed down against the hot flesh that curved the insides of her thighs.

Those nails of hers, just as he had desired before, tore his back apart; warm, crimson droplets rolled their way over the curves of his muscles and slid down his flesh in thin streams.

Those strings of pearls still hung down around her neck, colliding with the soft-pink skin of her nipples.

Every now and again, he would grasp the necklace with some sense of gentleness and tug on it enough to pull her forward towards him; allowing for the openness of her lips to fall into the same curves of his own.


	6. Yamamoto Chojiro

**Best Laid Plans**

_Yamamoto - Chojiro_

There was that undeniable sense of silence filling the small room that closed itself around him. He couldn't recall a moment from before where he had spent so much time in the Fourth Division barracks; if anything, he never had a reason to stay here at all. The very few, rare times he engaged in combat left minor injuries, if there were any wounds that did need medical attention, Captain Unohana healed them directly. One could say that he had really never stepped in the Fourth Division at all before.

But at a time like this... he couldn't leave.

Not when his Lieutenant was fighting for his life.

The cavity that had once served as his chest somehow had been pieced back together; a few thick layers of bandages were wrapped around his upper body to serve as a holding piece almost, making sure the recently healed places were held together just long enough for them to recover. His left arm had been carefully taken cared of and wrapped back together; what was missing from the appendage about halfway down his forearm could be reformed at a later date.

So, until that later date, he would remain at his side.

Waiting.

A few officers of the Fourth Division had passed nervously by, some of them assuring that Captain Unohana would report to him should there be any change in his condition. He thanked them for their time but said he had no problems with waiting. After all... this was the same man who had stood by his side for ongoing decades.

And yet, with each passing hour and every other Officer stepping in to check on his stats, reporting the same level of stability, which was a good thing... there were always those plaguing thoughts that no one could escape from. Even he himself, the so called blood and bones of Soul Society, could not forget the hours beforehand. He couldn't erase the image of the invading group that stood before him, issuing a threat against the Society directly to him as though he was any other man. Whatever purpose they were trying to serve was beyond his knowledge, the most he knew was what his Lieutenant had relied to him.

A victim of their ambushed attack, one hundred and eight of his officers had been slaughtered in a matter of seconds. His Lieutenant had been mortally injured from an arrow that he himself was forced to remove. Despite the blood loss and the obvious signs of pain and agony that destroyed him... he was determined to rely what little news he was aware of. His words escaped with sputtering droplets of blood that coursed out from his lips, breaking out between the broken gasps that corrupted his chest. Despite his advice to save his breath and strength, the man continued; when one was thought to be giving his last words though, there was no time to waste. When the pass of information was over though, there were words of apologies to follow... apologies for not being strong enough to save the other officers; for not realizing the threat ahead of time; for failing so easily.

This was the same man who had refused to move from his side for years, even when a greater position was open and he was the most qualified for it... he turned it down without hesitation. He tossed aside the common onslaught of leers and complaints from other officers who cursed his stubbornness, never understanding why he would toss aside an opportunity like that. The few times they disagreed were only over minor things and were easily thrown away minutes later, unlike some of the other Captains and their Lieutenants. Even after such a service, he still felt the need to apologize, as though everything up to this point had been unacceptable.

There were words of assurance that apologies weren't needed, but his heart had given out long before he heard them.

Captain Unohana had stepped in just a few seconds later; reporting that she felt something terrible going on.

He had lost one hundred and eight men already.

He wasn't going to lose one more.

"Captain Yamamoto..."

The voice served as a soft break to the fully-developed silence in the room and he moved his attention towards the woman who stood in the open doorway now. Her usual, cheery expressions somewhat marked down into a more serious one.

"Captain Unohana." he spoke in return.

"You should really get your rest." she started. "I'll keep a close eye on him."

"That's quite alright."

"I must insist that-"

"Retsu, if you don't mind... I've already made my decision." he remarked, softly cutting her words before they left her lips. "When he wakes up, I'll need to see it for myself."

It seemed to take a short while before she softly nodded at his words and stepped back out into the corridor behind her.

Just a little longer...


	7. BaragganSoifon

**Silver and Gold**

_Baraggan/Soifon_

It was said that they were all destined to meet death once at the end of this life cycle, allowing for the prospect of life to take the reigns and bring them back.

She had reviewed the multitude of tragedies that lined the different branches of her family, looking over the terrible methods many of them had been slain under; she came to the conclusion that no one deserved death more than she did.

It was funny just how correct she had been in that call.

Years to come, she would claim him as her own

He took ownership of her left arm, corroding it until it rotted down to nothing more than the white of her bones; the absolute strength and range of his power was enough to overthrow the rate of nature, speeding it up to the point of dissipating it to nothing.

In revenge, she struck him again and again until the once boastful crown he held had cracked. The overuse of her own power, combined with the disabilities his had placed on her, drove her body to the brink of exhaustion... but she refused to let him win.

It was a stand-still.

Both of them had been knocked down to the point where they could no longer fight, but no longer defend themselves either. They wanted to finish off the battle, to kill the other completely, but their bodies were too badly damaged to move. But he would have the upper hand... he always would, because Death always won regardless of the battle, of the war, of the fighters. She knew that... but she would make him earn this; she would make him gladly wish to take her the first chance he got.

He provided her the battle she had always dreamed for. And if this would prove to be her last, then so be it... she would die with the honor she so wished.

But Death was not easy. He proved to be a stubborn old fool who was blind to everything except what was in front of him. She knew he would make her hate him, he would make her wish for death, but in the end, he did none of those. In the end, it was just the two of them.

_"You walk into the shadow of death and yet you carry no fear with you."_

A broken chuckle left her half-maimed lips at the shattered words.

_"I have walked at your side my entire life; there is nothing you can do to scare me."_

He was nothing more than an illusion of a body, black mist to fill in the empty space where flesh and muscle should have been; the only concrete form of him that made a solid piece was the skull face that stared back at her with two empty sockets. Massive cracks shattered open the white jaw and broke apart a socket- her knuckles were broken and bloodied from the multiple contacts. Bony hands were disconnected and dislocated, almost mimicking her same injuries.

It seemed like he had humored her halfway through the battle and allowed for her to strike at him without the fear of eroding away more of her flesh. She took the new privilege without hesitation and proved to him why she wasn't a force to be reckoned with and why she showed no fear to him.

It left her with greater wounds, but in the end she made her point. At the very least, she impressed him; she impressed Death and he would simply have to reward her with an honorable death- and if not, she would earn herself one by force. With the battlefield empty around them though, it'd be a lonely show for fighters like them... then again, she supposed not everyone would want to witness Death in action like this.

But it was an one in a lifetime kind of sight.

_"So then you have been the one that's been a thorn in my side for so long..."_

_"You've noticed then."_

She sneered, feeling some kind of pride swell up from the center of her chest. To gain Death's notice like that... it certainly wasn't an easy task to do. It might even be something her family would be proud of.

_"I've had my eyes on you for a long time now..."_

_"I thought Death was supposed to be blind."_

_"I believe you're getting that mixed up with love, my dear."_

_"What's the difference?"_


	8. GrimmjowMenoly

**Carry You Home_  
_**

_Grimmjow/Menoly_

A single, crystal eye stared down at the sleeping figure that was carefully balanced in her arms. Neatly tucked between her slender forearms and cradled in her tired hands, was a soft pink bundle that had been loosely wrapped up. A tiny head was kept supported with her palms as the flat of her thumbs moved to trace slow circles against the soft cheeks. At just a few days old, the infant's skin was still an odd red shade, showing a couple of discolored marks here or there while the blue of her veins were easy to notice. Small strands of almost transparent blonde hair stuck to the rounded crown and only offered a brief glimpse at how the little being was going to turn out.

A tiny coo caught her by slight surprise and she watched as the tiny life form shifted slightly in her hold; smaller fingers closing themselves against palms to form a tiny version of a fist. It seemed to take a moment before a soft smile found its way to her pale lips, watching as the child snuggled its way back against her hands.

While some of the others might've found it easy to disregard the visual appeal of the infant… she found herself instantly drawn to it on a constant basis.

Despite being the life bearer herself… she felt no maternal instincts towards the child.

Even through the entire process of carrying, there was nothing inside of her that might've awoken to the change; no kind of internal instinct that might've showed forth to provide unknowing knowledge to the ordeal. For the most part, it was just her dealing with the matter mostly with annoyance and a side of frustration.

Moments like these though, where it was just the two of them alone, half asleep on a bed, she figured there was something… maybe just a little change to how she acted now. She made sure to put enough fear or irritation into the people around for those last few weeks that they chose to stay away from her now, which is what she wanted. At first, it had been mostly for the fact that she knew she wasn't going to feel well and she knew the ordeal would force most of her strength to leave her for a few days. But, now with the new addition, she found that she had no will to deal with company and she'd much rather keep the tiny body out of sight of the others. Perhaps it was that sudden surge in protectiveness that hinted at a sign of maternal instincts.

Melonia.

Some remarked that it wasn't very creative.

Others commented that they'd give the child a few weeks before things go bad.

She just told everyone to fuck off and give her some space or risk losing a limb or two of their own. This was a matter that belonged to her and no one else, she wasn't going to let them just run their mouths about it right in front of her. As far as she was concerned, this was her daughter and no one else's.

Leaning forward, she lightly pressed her forehead against the infant's and felt the subtle touch of small fingertips moving to brush against her nose. There was another soft coo from the child at the motion before she wiggled slightly in her hands, expressing some kind emotion with the movement.

"Are you trying to smother her?"

The corners of her lips tucked downward and she leaned back to keep her darkened expression from touching the infant. "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?"

"What? So I'm not even allowed to look at you anymore?"

She didn't bother with looking back, she knew well who was standing in her doorway- and right now, she didn't want to deal with his ass. For a man who remained fairly distant from her for most of the nine months, he had some balls to bother showing up now. "If I had my way, I wouldn't let you step a foot on this wing of Los Noches."

He was probably showing off that nasty sneer of his, the same one she had been on the wrong side of several times but couldn't care less about. She had other matters to deal with and right now, he wasn't even on her list.

"... Okay, I deserve that."

"No shit." she replied, watching as the child in her arms gave into a small yawn before she tried to shift around once more. "Now what the hell do you want?"

"I figured I should make time to drop in for once."

Despite how much she despised him at this moment, and how strong the feeling had gotten over the last few days, she tried to convince herself that it wasn't necessarily all his fault; he still owned a good majority of it, but his position as an Espada gave him little time to spare. Still, a man who liked to brag as much as he did, one would think he'd defy and break a few rules for the sake of the situation. She supposed his pride wouldn't let him though... it made him into an asshole like that.

"Well we're doing just fine without you." she assured, knowing the remark would on aggravate him.

Who was she really trying to kid with this act though?

She heard the sound of him slowly moving further into the room, the floorboards underneath him squeaking as they gave into his weight. There was a brief hint of curiosity coming from the child, who moved her head just ever so slightly at the new voice and the sounds that were approaching them. The look was rather cute if she had to admit it and it brought out an early set of curiosity that would take years to try and take over.

"I can see that."

Her eye shifted into the empty corner to catch a glimpse of him; noticing rather quickly the multitude of cuts that scraped over his broad form. The half vest that served as some kind of uniform piece was torn into smaller strips but still somehow managed to cling to the rounded form of his shoulders. His arms were crossed over his bare chest, probably shielding even more injuries.

"Do I want to know what happened?"

"This?" he questioned, not bothering to examine the injuries any more than he already had. Pulling his arms free from each other, he tossed a small, black piece of material onto the bed space next to her. "Nnoitra made a rather smart mouth remark earlier, so I made him eat his tongue."

She didn't find that surprising.

While the Sexta had often remarked that the Fifth Espada was one of few he could tolerate on most days... that didn't mean they went without their conflicts. If anything, they were more violent than any other; she was a little surprised she didn't pick up on their energy waves, most of the time they were strong enough to blow walls from their frames.

She had very little doubts that the man had only stepped forward and struck at the Fifth for a smart mouth remark that might've been directed towards her. Or their daughter perhaps. For a Hollow she often times regarded as being too cocky and who acted like an asshole a majority of the time, he had his moments. Small moments, but they were worth something she supposed.


	9. ChojiroMomo

**Out of My Mind**

_Chojiro - Momo_

She felt her body moving with every breath that left his chest as she snuggled her way against him; fingers lightly dragged themselves in a small circular pattern against her back as the lazy afternoon seemed to have claimed the both of them. It was one of few days they had left together...

He had been assigned to go on a solo mission on behalf of the Society, a position he hadn't been eager to agree to even though he was the most qualified for it; he was always hesitant in leaving Soul Society, remarking that he needed to keep at Captain Yamamoto's side. It took the First Captain himself suggesting that he'd attend the mission before he would even recognize it. A short reconsideration had his name signed at the bottom of the reports that detailed whatever this matter was about. He was assigned to leave in two weeks with no idea when he would return.

It wasn't exactly the most comfortable situation but... she knew she had no say in it.

She just passed on some good luck and told him to come back when he could.

Until then though, she had to cherish these kind of moments while they lasted.

"Thirteen days you know." she remarked.

"That far away?" he questioned, glancing down briefly to the woman lying on his chest. Her dark hair had been pulled out from its usual bun and let down into a short ponytail that played on her shoulders. The black material of her uniform seemed to merge into his own and almost rid the separation of their bodies. He knew she didn't like the prospect of his departure that was coming up, not that he did either, but he tried to ease it down as much as he could. "It's going to take years to get here."

A light chuckle escaped her and proved that his system worked once more. "That's not going to work forever."

"I'm just aiming for the now."

Shaking her head, she slipped her arms into the empty space at his sides and pushed herself back away from his chest. "The only problem is that the now keeps becoming the past."

"You'll be okay; I promise."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you."

He didn't know her completely but... well she supposed it was close enough. Fingers moved to tuck aside the loose bangs that had fallen into her face as she kept her eyes settled on the man below her. There was always something about his colorless eyes that drew her in again and again, probably more so because it was impossible to see what exactly he was looking at. Not to mention, there was a certain look of attraction in the way he dressed and the way he carried himself; he conducted himself as a gentleman and acted chivalrous at all times, regardless of the given situation. There was a lot to him that she couldn't resist...

"This whole thing still seems so strange to me." she started.

"It's not the first time an outside mission called for just one person in attendance." he spoke, shifting slightly to find a more comfortable position underneath her. "They don't happen all that often, but they are in existence."

"No I meant like... this matter between us."

"Why would you say that?"

She noticed the slightly questioning look that marred his lips into a small frown and for a moment she might've regretted her choice of words. Not that it was meant to be taken in a bad way, it was just a matter she had been stuck on lately since that mission of his was fast approaching. "It's just when I look at you I see this perfect person, the perfect figure that everyone looks to and someone that everyone wants to mimic. And then there's me..." she answered, offering a light chuckle as she moved to sit back slightly; fingers brushing aside her hanging strands once more. "This person who was so willing to be caught up in a delusion and who has all these problems. I guess the point is, I just don't see how you could have chosen me over everyone else, but I'm glad you did."

He listened intently to her words after wondering where she was going with it in the first place, but noted how she took it with a sense of humor; she was making light of it since there was no debate to them. Fingers moved to readjust the front of her uniform before they fell to balance on the curves of her waist. "There are things that everyone can see in someone else, but not in themselves. It could simply be in the way they talk or smile, the way they go about things... the smallest of things hold something important to someone else. And that's all that's needed sometimes."

...

...

Those thirteen days went by hour by hour until the departing dawn was upon him. It would be dishonest to admit that he had been up half the night from his nerves, the thought of the departure wasn't exactly something he could sleep on. But it was here now and he needed to step out to accomplish what had been asked of him. Captain Yamamoto kept with him most of the morning, going over the last few details that were needed to know before he seemingly departed abruptly.

He didn't question it and went about getting last minute things together.

"Good morning, Sasakibe."

That voice was recognizable from anywhere and he knew immediately who it was. A light chuckle left him before he turned around to where the shorter woman stood just a few feet behind him. "Up a little early, aren't we Hinamori? Did you come to see me off?"

"Something like that." she answered, fingers nervously pulling lightly on the white sash around her waist. "I uh... might've managed to debate this whole matter over and get it switched from a one person mission to a two person assignment."


	10. AU StarrkHarribel

**Home_  
_**

_Starrk/Harribel_

"You don't look like a bar kind of lady, if you don't mind me saying that is."

Blue eyes lifted themselves away from the half glass she had in one hand, where she was using only her fingertips to hold the rim of the cup, and gradually shifted over towards the deep voice. She carefully examined the dark-haired man seated next to her... she didn't even notice him take the empty seat to her right; his semi-long strands fell loose around his ears in slightly curled locks while a heavy scruff covered his heavy jawline and wide chin. The collar of his shirt was pulled open and slightly tugged up to reveal his tan skin and the outward carve of his collarbones that protruded from underneath his flesh. A pale-white shirt loosely dressed his upper body while he had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows to reveal muscular forearms and strong hands. He kept a half-finished beer between his hands, occasionally rotating it around with his fingertips.

A brief chuckle caught onto her lips before she went back to her drink. "That's because I'm not."

"So what are you doing here then?"

"Bachelorette party." she answered, tilting her glass into the direction of the rowdy crowd of women at the other end of the bar; there were loud cheers and clinking of glasses as the small group just about spilled their drinks all over each other. "I'm supposed to be celebrating a friend's marriage to a womanizing, disrespectful douchebag. I don't know what she sees in him, but hell I'm not marrying him so it's fine I guess. We were on our way to this rented cabin nearby but... they just couldn't resist the call for some alcohol- and after spending seven hours in a car with them, neither could I."

It was his turn to chuckle lightly before he took a short drink from his beer. "Well you know what they say about love making you do crazy things."

"Well I figured the craziness would've ended when she said yes... unfortunately not apparently." she shrugged lightly, before she turned her gaze back towards him. "What's your name stranger?"

There seemed to be a slight hint of hesitation before he offered her a casual smile, tilting his bottle towards her. "Starrk."

She nodded and moved to bring the rim of her glass against the side of his drink, producing a soft clink with the colliding objects. "Harribel. So what's a rather outcast kind of guy like you doing in a place like this?"

"I was in the mood for a cold beer and figured why not." he answered, a light shrug moving from his shoulders before a short chuckle escaped him. "Actually a few friends decided to drag me out, but they've all since vanished... no doubt in the arms of some interesting women around here."

"Well then, there's a good chance one of them might've snagged a friend or two of mine." She remarked before she brought her drink back to her lips. "You looking to escape into the arms of a woman yourself?"

"Actually I was just going to settle for a couple of beers and maybe some late night Western shows when I get home."

For some reason, she found herself to believe that he was the type of person to actually do so. Rather than flirt tongue with a few, one-beer-too-many women around here, he'd prefer to indulge in some alcohol for himself and then spend the night however so he wished. She was the same in a way, after all it was a less complicated path and tended to leave her with only a minor headache in the morning- also with a clean bed as well.

"Sounds like a fun evening. I might dominate the TV for myself since I highly doubt they'll be able to comprehend the remote by the time we get to that cabin." she remarked, glancing over to where the group was laughing over something, a few of them had their heads down against the table while others were gasping loudly for air.

"Is there a reason you're not sitting over there with them?" he questioned.

"Because I needed air to breathe and a little bit of quiet after spending all day with them."

"Seems reasonable enough."

"Yo Starrk." a tall, broad man called as he clapped a heavy hand against his back. Light-blue bangs were pushed back out of his face to reveal a heavily chiseled jawline and narrow eyes; a thick collection of scars marred the right side of his face. "We're about ready to head out, you coming along?"

"As long as you're not bringing any extra company." he replied.

"Nah, Yylfordt left with a couple of ladies earlier and Redder wasn't that far behind with his own little posse." the man continued. "The rest of us are gonna head back to Zommari's and probably hit the illegal liquor for a few more hours."

She watched as he gave a chuckle and shook his head at his friend, before he gave a brief wave of his hand and said that he'd catch up in a minute. Waiting until the other man had left, she turned her attention back towards him. "Friend of yours?"

"Something like that." Starrk nodded, pushing aside the almost finished bottle of beer as he turned the bar stool underneath him. "Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Miss. Harribel, as much as I'd love to stay and keep chatting... I gotta make sure they don't keep the liquor going all night; I don't need to monitor another hospital visit."

"I know the feeling." she chuckled, watching as he finally moved to get to his feet. Quick eyes spotted the phone that was sticking out of his shirt pocket and even quicker fingers pulled it free from its confines. He didn't seem to notice the action at first until she had finished messing with a few of the buttons and handed it back to him. "Here's my number, if you find yourself with some free time to play with... don't hesitate."


	11. Eros

**Eros**

_Shunsui/Nanao_

They had been married for eleven months now...

Most people said the first year was the hardest, but as far as she could tell nothing was all that different. It didn't feel different anyways. For the most part, things just continued on as they were and the Society was still standing, so that was good. While their engagement might have caused some minor problems in terms of him still being a Captain and her still serving as his Lieutenant, it wasn't really all that important. Although occasionally she challenged his orders and watched the way he hesitated to correct her, which he never did anyways and never would.

Captain Ukitake joked that she must have taken over the Eighth Division since he listened to her more than she did to him.

Kyōraku just laughed with the Thirteenth Captain before he silently agreed.

She would just shake her head and move into another conversation.

It was ridiculous to think that this kind of situation hadn't happened before in the Society, perhaps other occurrences just hadn't been announced or spoken out loud about. She would've preferred if theirs had been the same, if anything she was looking forward to a small, quiet ceremony... but she should've known better than to think it would stay like that. It seemed like the moment she said yes, the entire Society knew about. Ten minutes after he popped the question, she had people coming up and congratulating her.

She may have voiced her slight dislike for a larger ceremony but it felt like it was out of their control now as everyone from every Division was talking about what to wear and who to bring. Suddenly, she had to plan for more than just signing a piece of paper and wearing a ring at the end of it. A lot of people offered to help. Matsumoto offered to help with the dresses and getting the rehearsals together, while Hinamori provided some reliable food catering services they could look into; she ended up taking up most of Isane's time as they spent almost every night up to the wedding getting the smallest details together.

Captain Unohana helped to provide the flowers, which the other female Officers helped to fashion into individual bouquets.

It was all very beautiful and some people still liked to talk about it even now, but... she still considered it to be over the top compared to what she originally wanted. Of course, Kyōraku really took to the celebration- she was still adamant that it was because he and a few of the other Captains had a bachelor party. She still didn't want to know what they did, but considering that the entire group of them were almost late for the rehearsal the next day... it had to have been bad or good either way you look at it.

The girls took her out for a bachelorette party but she remained tamed for most of it, choosing to just stand aside and watch as Matsumoto and Kiyone went topless in the fountain downtown. That was about it. In fact, she showed up at the rehearsal an hour before it even was scheduled to start.

But for the short journey they had shared so far, it was pretty much as she had imagined. Nothing different, nothing new... it was almost like it hadn't even happened in the first place; sometimes she was surprised to find a ring still on her finger. She just wanted to abide by some form of self-restraint and keep from making a public display of too much affection, which the Eighth Captain was purely capable of doing if she didn't keep her eyes on him. Not that she minded, she just didn't want to become a public act.

Setting aside her pen for a moment, she put her thoughts aside to keep her attention on the finished report in front of her; she had been working all morning to get it done so that she could take the rest of the day off. She gave a brief skim over the written words and felt pleased enough with what had been said.

The touch of someone else's lips against the curve of her open neck broke her concentration easily and caused her to jump slightly in her seat. One hand moved over her shoulder and came into contact with his face, which she pushed back against to put more space between them.

"Kyōraku, you made me lose my place."

"Come on, Ise, you've been inside all day."

She frowned lightly before she pushed him aside once more. "I had to finish this report first, you knew that."

He reached forward and lightly plucked the report from her hands, pulling it out of her reach before she could react. "It looks finished enough to me."

"Well it's not!" she complained, trying to reach up to retrieve the paper, only to have his longer range keep it away from her fingers. "I haven't even proofread it yet, let alone started a second final if I need to."

"I don't read these anyways, they just get filed until the drawers get cluttered and someone cleans them out." he assured, folding the paper enough to hide it in the front of his jacket. "Now come on, it's a beautiful day outside; the sun is shining, the weather is lovely and there's plenty to do."

There was no sense in trying to resist as he bent down and slipped his arms underneath her, lifting her easily out of the chair she had been seated in all morning. Sighing, she shook her head and allowed for the Captain to do so, allowing him to carry her bridal style.

Again.


	12. Ludus

**Ludus**

_Yylfordt/Ying/Yang_

The brief rays of light coming in through his window made him regret the artificial sun ever being created in the first place. A low groan escaped through his lips as he attempted to turn away from the annoying source, only to end up face first into a soft pillow of hair next to him. At this point, he was almost too exhausted to figure out who it was, figuring they'd eventually wake up and introduce themselves anyways.

Somehow, he was able to convince himself to crack open one eye just enough to see who it might've been. He wasn't looking for a concrete identification, just maybe something enough for him to guess on. Dark-red strands were disheveled and messy, partly pulled aside by a white hollow piece that ran down the center of her skull. Lightly tanned skin was barely visible from where the white covers had been pulled up to her shoulders and with her head tucked in against his chest, he couldn't necessarily see who she was. Eh, that wasn't important right now. He'd figure it out eventually.

Stifling a short yawn, he shifted around slightly and felt where the woman's arm had been draped over his side.

Hmm... come to think of it, this did seem a little suspicious...

No wait, now he remembered.

While patrolling around with some of the other Fraccion men, they happened to notice the appearance of two Arrancar females who couldn't be identified by anyone in the group; finding out later on, apparently they were new recruits that Sir Aizen had brought in. He remembered the way the both of them shared a light wink towards their group before they continued on their ways. Edrad had caught him staring and shoved a thick elbow into the delicate space underneath his ribs. The larger man told him there was no chance in hell that he'd be able to even get close to one of them, let alone both. And of course, any kind of strike to his pride like that was going to deserve some kind of retaliation, in which case he mocked the man for his poor word choice. Their argument was brief and ended with the other man betting that he couldn't even get their names; but if he did manage to do so, he wouldn't be able to get much else.

He wasn't one to go without a challenge though and this... this was certainly going to be one.

His charm and good looks made it easy to flirt with the other female Arrancars and he didn't hesitate to shower all of them with sweet words or whatever it was they wanted to hear. It earned him the label of a womanizer but he didn't really care much for it. In a world like this, they were lucky to be alive... why not play with it? Even if it meant playing the females like a game, at least he was winning.

Soon after, he set out to track down where the two new recruits had gone, not without taking his time to study their personal playing field first though. When he finally found a chance to catch them by themselves, without the company of the other females or other males for that matter, he stepped in to see what was possible. They kept up with the light flirts from before and grinned when they recognized him from earlier, making subtle remarks that he had been the easiest to spot. He complimented them on their excellent sight and queried about how they ended up here, showing interest in what drug them into this hellhole instead.

It was easy to stir them into a conversation, giving this challenge little to work hard for.

Edrad would be pissing steam if he knew just how easy he had it with this kind of work.

Although when questioned, they weren't all that cooperative into giving him their names; teasing that he'd have to earn them in some way. They seemed to be playing this game just as well as he was and were enjoying it just as much too. He found it intriguing and became all the more curious about how it was going to end up- hopefully in his favor but Edrad didn't exactly give him a time limit either. If he didn't get it on the first try, he'd just come back harder the next time around. But these two were eager to keep his interest and he was just the same... something about them kept him coming back again and again just to test his skills.

The matching grins that traced their different colored lips were what sealed the deal ultimately in the end.

A soft groan escaped the figure curled up against his chest as her body slowly started to stir and shift about; one arm stiffened into a lazy stretch before it moved to push her carefully up for a brief moment. Her chopped, unorganized locks covered portions of her face that her hollow piece couldn't keep the away from, almost hiding the matching red eyes of hers that were half opened and inactive. The curve of her upper lip was still a dull shade of crimson, making him wonder if it was a permanent mark or just hard to mess make up. She clicked her tongue lightly in a small yawn before she tilted her head over towards him, looking down to where he remained half awake.

One hand moved to touch against his jawline before she leaned in after it and brought her lips to his own. Even after a full night of activity, she still held a sense of strength and passion in the small embrace.

"Yang."

Hmm... interesting name, but he liked it.

A set of motion behind him drew his attention to the second woman who was just now waking. She pushed herself up just enough to drape half of her body over his own; untidy blue locks draped down to her slender shoulders and kissed her tanned, bare skin. A near perfect image of her counterpart, just in a darker shade of blue, she shared a matching yawn before setting her ocean-like eyes on him. A serenity-like smile playing with her colored lips.

"Ying."

So... Ying and Yang? That was a rather intriguing name combination, wasn't it? Chuckling softly, he moved to roll onto his back, shifting the blue-haired woman slightly before she moved to rest more so against his chest. "So, which one of you is light and which one is dark?"

"Hmm, that's for you to decide, isn't it?"


	13. Storge

**Storge**

_Chojiro/Momo_

She watched the way his fingers carefully moved to format the striped, silver tie properly around his neck; making sure to keep the material tight and even as he moved through the tedious process. It was always entertaining to notice how much time he put into his appearance, making sure that every piece of clothing was properly fitted and smoothed out. She knew that some of the other guys like to tease him for it, but... she assumed they were just a little jealous seeing as a lot of the other women swooned over his good looks. She fell hard for him herself after all. Smiling, she watched as he finished what he was doing and moved on to slip into the rest of his outfit.

Hell, she hadn't even thought of getting ready just yet and their date was scheduled in an hour or so. Maybe if she could convince herself to her feet soon enough they might actually arrive on time for once.

It was actually a little odd sometimes to think about it all...

He had been there for her after the Winter War mess; she thought it was only because Captain Yamamoto requested that he do so... not that she really knew why, it wasn't like she was all that important. It took over a year for her to recover from shattered bones and multiple organ failures, but he stayed by her side the entire time; helping her to achieve those first steps after the surgeries and overall recovery. After awhile, he became a support system for her when the others were too busy recovering themselves, after all he seemed to have all the time in the world for her. The long afternoons they were able to share were filled with engaging conversations, light laughs and the occasional moments of silence where they were more willing to take in each other's company. When she was finally able to return to her Division and given the okay to start training if she wished, they went on to enjoy walks and a few breaks for lunch as well. While Matsumoto and Isane teased her about their time together, she assured them it was nothing more than time spent with a friend. The answer seemed to do little to convince them otherwise, but she didn't care for it.

They both shared a spot of laughter over the shared matter when he admitted that Officer Yasochika had brought up the same topic. Neither of them had considered the time spent to be anything different than a moment with a friend... unfortunately she guessed things just didn't seem that simple to other people.

... Then things began to become complicated.

She didn't really register any kind of feelings towards him, at least none that she had recognized at first. He was attractive, chivalrous and entertaining to be with, definitely one of the more suiting men in the Society. Perhaps it had been his quiet yet noble personality that made him more fun to be around, it clashed a little bit with her loud, sometimes arrogant attitude.

It didn't really feel like anything had changed between them, at least nothing that was immediately noticeable.

She just remembered them separating from another lunch break and sharing a short embrace before departing back to their own Division barracks. It wasn't something she picked up on, even looking back on it now she couldn't really pick out the point where things crossed that line. It was only when they found themselves tangled together on the couch in her Division barracks that everything kind of fell into place.

Looking back to what everyone was saying now... she wondered how long this kind of behavior had been going on without their notice. Maybe everyone had been right from the beginning...

Neither of them really had any problems with it seeing as they never noticed a difference to begin with and figured there wouldn't be any harm in just trying out a relationship. It had only been three years after the Winter War... she figured she was in a suitable position to start dating again.

There was something to be said with how comfortable it was to be wrapped up against him though, to listen to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat whenever her head was rested against his chest. He was a gentle, yet satisfying lover and it always felt like her skin couldn't get enough of his touch. Most of their evenings were spent enjoying their bedspaces together, sometimes clothed, sometimes not.

Chocolate-brown eyes glanced up as he entered the room once more. The stark-white, dress shirt that cuffed halfway around his forearms was partly covered by a light-gray vest that buttoned over his abdomen; the striped tie from before had been neatly tucked underneath it. A second, black vest was pulled over the both of them and linked together with gold chain that dangled between silver buttons. The black dress pants with the gold belt seemed to pull the whole outfit together and created a near perfect image of man.

She loved when he got all dressed up for her.

He seemed to always choose the best outfits, which, without fail, always managed to overshadow the simple ones she picked out. But she supposed he was a lot better for the eyes.

"Taking a late start I see." he remarked lightly, toying with his tie once more.

A light smile toyed with her corners of her lips as she softly tilted her head at his words. "Tell me when I have ten minutes left and then I'll start panicking." sighing quickly, she pushed herself up from the couch underneath her and slowly moved to step past him; stopping briefly, she fixed whatever he had found wrong with the striped piece and smoothed out the small wrinkles in his vest. She took the moment to press her hands lightly against his chest. "You know this outfit is only going to get ruined later on, right?"


	14. Pragma

**Pragma**

_Szayel/Nemu_

_"You two look good together."_

_"I'm sure it won't be that bad..."_

_"We'll still be here for you."_

She supposed she could not call them out for lying, or trying to pass off false words of comfort to her. They were just as bitterly upset and useless as she was... or perhaps as the two of them were.

From the scattered words of those around her, everyone seemed to agree that they did in fact appear good together; standing side by side, they were an attractive pair. Perhaps that kind of image would be enough to dispel the ongoing wars and killings between their two different realms.

It was a stretch.

The highest powers on both sides had exhausted every available option on calming the raging waters between them. With the body counts and bloodshed high, they were desperate to try anything... she supposed an idea like this was not that far from being crazy. This wasn't the first case an arrangement as such had been used, in fact, in some worlds it wasn't uncommon really... She guessed she merely thought that they were above standards as such.

She was incorrect in the end of it.

Hands moved to brush the small wrinkles out of the white satin that formed a dress around her nervous body; fingers lingering briefly on the small beads that had been sewn into the thin hem of the soft corset. The gown was absolutely stunning, in fact she considered it to be too prim and proper for someone like herself. But it was pushed forward with words encouraging her to wear it, saying she would look beautiful in it, telling her not to worry for the cost- there was someone else to pick up the bill for it.

They were all putting everything on the line for this arrangement... there were no cutting corners in the ceremony; the price alone for the dress was almost a third of the entire budget. She thought it was a little erratic and outrageous, but she needed to fit the image of the perfect bride. She needed to be the crowning image of future hope and prosperity for her realm.

...

She had met this man she would soon be spending the rest of her life with.

She had to admit that he was rather attractive and she could see why he was chosen to be her counterpart. They complimented each other well enough and while they were both quiet-natured, they seemed to do just fine standing in close proximity to one another. She still remembered the soft coos from the crowd when their names had been announced, when they were first revealed to the public... so much admiration there seemed to be from the people.

They were their crowning relief though.

This union would hopefully help bring their realms closer together in a bid to end the century-long wars.

Even he had to remark that, while the plan was of low standard, it would most certainly work in the eye of the public.

_"We're an image." he had whispered the afternoon before; those quiet amber eyes of his distracted by something else off in the distance behind her. "We look good, we have a few common interests... we're a nice combination for the public. That's all they care about. We play the part, we paint the image, we save something."_

_"Even if we lose in the end of it?" she had questioned, almost afraid to look up from where her hands were folded in her lap; fingers softly knitted in the material of her dress._

_"They would be happy if the ending causalities were just two instead of two thousand." he answered. There was a soft pause in his words, almost in his breathing just the same, before he slowly let it escape through his thin lips. "I hate it, I keep thinking it's not going to work and from there I wonder what's going to happen after that. But... regardless of that, I'll try not to... let that affect me."_

_Her green eyes shifted up at the ending comment, watching as he tried to busy himself with something on his light-gray vest. "They're trying to have a set of imperfect people paint an image of perfection... we'll stumble behind closed doors, we'll stumble when no one's looking. But... if you're willing to try... then I will too."_

The soft click coming from the only door in the room brought her out of her thoughts and forced her to give her attention to whoever might be standing on the other side. She was expecting one last visitor, maybe her father even- although he hadn't bothered to see her all day... She shouldn't have been surprised to see it was him instead.

His soft-pink strands were brushed to one side and fell along the curve of his right jaw, the longer strands were pulled back behind him and tied with a small band. A white suit was fitted and tailored to his slender form, bringing out the attractive points of his physique; a soft gray vest was tucked in underneath his overlying jacket, offering just a small break in the solid color line.

"The ceremony's starting apparently." he started, the soft dip in his voice said it all about his unsteady nerves.

Last chance to run, right?

Nodding lightly, she pushed herself to her feet and tried to still her nerves just enough to reduce the risk of collapsing on her heels. Hands moved to brush out the wrinkles once more before she slowly started over to him; fingers grabbing the small bouquet from the flat of her make up dresser.

Her other hand reached forward to take the arm he offered her, slowly sliding her own to hang onto it.

They looked perfect... at least that had been managed.

It was for the greater good. She just had to keep telling herself that.

"It won't be that bad, I promise."**  
**


	15. Mania

**Mania**

_Nnoitra/Nelliel  
_

There was always something in that sharp cut in his eye whenever it was noted that she had garnered someone else's attention; when someone had taken it upon themselves to let their eyes follow the curves of her body- without her permission of course. She often said that he overreacted whenever he beat the opposing body into a bloodied heap, leaving them within an inch of surviving the attack. He always replied with the same thing.

Fingers took to the form of her neck, pressing in with enough force to make sure she could feel the strength in his grip. Lips pulled back in a sharp snarl as he reminded her again and again that she belonged to no one else but him.

She always cursed him and pulled out of his hands, threatening that she would leave him in a worse condition if so much as a bruise was left behind. They would always bicker back and forth, snapping obscenities at one another until they had exhausted every curse.

Every argument always ended the same though.

With all the heat generated from their combined screaming matches, they needed a way to release the tension of their compressed energies and they were always eager to remark their territories on one another's body. She enjoyed dragging her nails down his back, going out of her way to make sure his skin split open from beneath her manicured tips. Oh but he enjoyed the same kind of method when he dug his hips into her own, pressing down with enough pressure to make it almost painful.

But that was just how they played, wasn't it?

It had the potential to get almost ridiculous though.

She didn't even realize how deeply they were entangled until she found herself feeling almost anxious when he wasn't in her sight; it wasn't so much out of worry or anything in relation to that... It was almost more so that someone else would be calling for his attention, threatening her territory.

She put the blame on their animalistic tendencies that called out to label 'partners' as mates and property, making them become aggressive when someone crossed into territory. Their lack of a proper male to female ratio left him showcasing his aggression more than her; the few females that remained in this realm hardly passed off their attention to him, but on some rare occasions she snapped at those with loose eyes.

At one point, it was more as though they hated each other.

And at other times, it was like they were far past the point of being obsessed.

They made for jealous lovers and irritated partners.

He would never be able to replace her though, she knew that for certain... and yet she would always go out of her way to make sure of that. Reminding him that there was hardly anyone else who could stand him as long as she had; he would do just the same though, going out of his way to say that no one would want a rejected number like her anyways.

It was like they were trying to make one another hate each other all over again.

And yet, they were all the more eager to make up for it.

"You know that kind of obsession can't be healthy, right?"

She frowned slightly as she looked to the purple-haired woman speaking to her; the woman had made it clear from the start that she wanted nothing to do with their relationship and was happily engaged with another partner herself. That was enough to convince her, after all she had seen the woman go out of her way to avoid her property.

"Healthy or not, it doesn't matter to me." she rebuffed, turning back to where she was tending to some small injuries; holding a warm towel around the back of her neck in hopes it would ease her tightened muscles. They went a little overboard with their last... session; she would have to put in an order for a new bed. "You don't see me commenting on your relationship."

"Well... I don't always come out of it with broken bones and a shattered bed board." Cirucci remarked.

"You're missing out then."


	16. Agape

**Agape**

**Ukitake/Unohana**

"What do we do now?"

A light smile played on her softly colored lips as she moved to follow him step by step; fingers tightening lightly on his own as the uneven trail beneath them called for a bit more attention on balance and careful steps. She tried to keep the hem of her handcrafted dress off the ground, keeping a small bundle of the gentle material in her other hand. The soft breeze around them picked up the few loose strands of her hair, which had been neatly restyled that morning... although it took several hours to do so and quite a bit of frustration as well.

"What is there left for us to do?"

He chuckled at her returned question and moved to steady his pace a bit as the trail dipped down slightly along the hill. In a rather elaborate suit like the one he was wearing, it probably wasn't the best idea to run around on back area paths like this one... but it was just difficult to pass up. The weather was cool and kept him from overheating in the layers he had to dress in, not to say that the different materials were all that heavy to begin with.

"I don't know... but I guess that's a good thing." he remarked, squeezing her hand lightly as he moved to guide her along the light curve of the trail. "At this point, I think we can do anything we want; the world's in the palms of our hands."

"I'm not sure if I would go that far, Jūshirō, but it is a nice thought." she replied, giving into a light laugh at his words. "We have a lot of years ahead of us now, we best start thinking of something new to do."

A lot of years indeed...

Even now, he still played with the gold ring on one hand, lightly twisting it about with his fingers. It had only been on his finger for just a few hours now, which was probably why he still felt unaccustomed to it.

They didn't necessarily need rings or even that small, private ceremony... but sometimes things just had to be done. After spending so many years together, it was nice to finally make it official like this. Not that that was necessary to do either... Regardless, it was a shared idea they both liked and figured there was no harm in making it a reality.

"Well... no need to rush it." he assured. "I'm sure we'll stumble across something."

"Is that so?" she seemed to tease, tugging lightly on his arm as she moved to take a minor deter off the dirt path. "I suppose with all the time of the future we'll have, we won't have to worry about wasting it anytime soon."

"Exactly. So why worry with it?"

She spared him another one of her heart-skipping smiles before she slowly pulled herself from his arm and continued on the loose path in front of them. With the brief view she gave him... he wished she never had to get out of that dress; he wished this day never had to end. Of course, these clothes and suits were only material things, they were nothing compared to what was shared between them... but he liked the image of it. To the outside eye, they were perfect.

It didn't take sight to see that though.

His brief submerge into his thoughts left him at a greater distance behind her and he had to pick up his pace to catch up with her once again; stopping in time, he watched as she moved through the thin brush of the forest and stepped into the wide clearing on the other side.

"Do you remember this place?" she questioned.

It was hard to ignore the smile that placed on his lips as he followed her. "This is where we used to go to skip classes and training. Well... we only did that once really... the other times were on breaks and various detours during our assignments."

"Love built this garden... for the two of us to dream in." she whispered. "But that dream is fulfilled now."

"Then I guess we'll just have to add to it."


	17. SentaroKiyone

**Fall at Your Feet**

_Sentaro/Kiyone_

A muffled sigh escaped her as she slowly rolled herself across the bed, taking up the empty space next to her. Part of her said it was late enough in the morning to drag herself out of bed... and the other part said it wasn't early enough in the afternoon for her to do it either. One hand moved to settle against the back of her head as she toyed with both possible decisions, although she knew which one was the better option- actually the better option would've been to get up earlier, but that was never going to happen.

"Kiyone!"

Oh she heard him... but she wasn't going to answer.

He could survive by himself for a few more minutes.

"Oh Gods, they've got my legs!"

Reaching one arm out to her side, she blindly fumbled about before she managed to get a solid grasp on the pillow she had been on a couple of minutes ago; pulling it over, she placed it over the back of her head and went back to trying to ignore the yelling man.

"I know you can hear me!"

Groaning lightly, she figured she couldn't risk ignoring him any longer... or she'd be playing the risk of losing someone else in the matter. Pushing the pillow off, she had to force each limb to move and slowly urged herself over the edge of the bed; barely managing to get to her feet at the end of the motion. She stifled a soft yawn and ruffled her chopped, blonde locks as she shuffled her way out of the messy bedroom; one hand pushed the door aside before she looked down to the collapsed figure at her feet.

"If I can carry them for nine months and then give birth to them, you can handle them for an hour." she remarked as she braced her arms against the doorframe and watched as he could only offer her a brief shrug in return.

"Yeah, but they were just babies back then." he replied, remaining almost face down on the floor below. "They're a little more difficult now."

She gave into a light chuckle before she moved to step over him, stooping down to remove one of her sons from where he had been hugging the man's leg. After just waking up, it took her a moment to be reacquainted with her strength before she lifted the three-year old up. "Ohh, Canto, why are you beating up your father so early? You know I always have to come to his rescue."

Dark eyes stared back at her through a messy collection of silver strands that fell into his face. The two of them always laughed at the fact that their first-born child just had to have silver hair... so instead of resembling either of them, her son looked more like her older sister. Isane had given her a nervous chuckle at the realization of it but remarked that it was just a strong gene in their family anyways, after all most of their relatives had silver hair as well. Asides from the silver hair though, everything else about him seemed to resemble his father, which was good. And bad too.

Bringing the child closer to her chest, she looked down to where the man was still lying down; his other leg still preoccupied with a second child. Shifting one leg over, she booted him carefully in his open side. "Sentaro, come on, we have to be responsible now."

"I don't have enough responsibility in my brain this early." he playfully whined before he started to push himself up, managing to snag the other son in the midst of movement before he finished getting to his feet. The slightly smaller child fit easily in the crook of one arm as he seemed to half hold him against his chest. A messy shag of black hair made him look almost identical to his father, followed closely by the progressive development of strong cheekbones and a wide chin as well. "But I guess if '_mom_' here doesn't want us to lie around on the floor all day, then we'll have to make do, won't we, Apollo?"

"Oh please, you already tapped out five minutes ago." she teased. "Now let's try to make everyone look decent before we go out today... we don't want a repeat of last time."

"On the plus side though, everyone complimented the homemade tattoos we had done the night before."

"Because everyone was silently hoping they were fake."

It had felt like all of Soul Society gave a violent shake when they announced their slightly unprepared and surprised pregnancy. Everyone shared the same colorless faces and look of an oncoming Apocalypse in their eyes... which were actually pretty accurate reactions in a sense. The two of them put together couldn't really be trusted to be responsible for themselves, let alone for another smaller being that would be completely depended on them for many, many years. She remembered Isane almost passing out when the news had been delivered and the slightly frustrated words that left her afterwards were kind of true and needed to be heard. It wasn't like her and Sentaro were known all that well for doing the 'right' thing; it was more like their reputations were brought from their constant wrestling matches, which were actually used as entertainment at some events, and their less-than-subtle drinking habits. There had been more than one occasion where they showed up to work drunk, much to Captain Ukitake's dismay, but he always overlooked it.

It took them almost more than half of the whole pregnancy ordeal before they found a middle ground to balance on. They tried out the whole 'being more responsible' act and tried to learn more skills that would be helpful later on; a few times ended in failure but the successes were what kept them going.

Unfortunately, when Captain Unohana announced that there was a second baby forming inside of her as well... she was pretty certain the Society fell to its knees in defeat.

Again, nothing that could really be blamed.

To make the situation more fun though, they liked to pass around the funny names they could use and watch people wince at the absurdity of a few of them; a couple of fellow officers had to walk away in the middle of a conversation to keep from laughing at their somewhat serious decisions on a list of narrowed down names. Eventually, they decided to actually be serious on the matter and when they did, the overall options became rather easy to choose.

Canto was a strong name and rolled off the tongue rather fluently.

Apollo was equally as strong and she recalled a former relative of hers baring the same name as an alias once before.

And when the day finally came for the Society to bare the last hit to its support, it seemed to waiver slightly at the sight of the less than matching sons. Captain Unohana cooed over the small infants and insisted that Isane hold both of them at least for a few minutes- and despite her earlier reluctancy, she gave away under the request with ease. She was pretty certain Sentaro almost knocked down one of the Division Four walls in his excitement, which he pulled a muscle in his back from as well. But if there was anyone else who could've possibly topped that kind of excitement, it was Captain Ukitake, who had constantly been with them throughout the entire ordeal- acting more so as a protective grandfather than as a Captain. Despite the usual strict limitations of Division Four, she guessed he managed to sweet talk his way into being allowed to visit once the infants were cleaned and wrapped up.

That had been three years ago though and seeing how Soul Society was still existing outside of their windows, she figured it hadn't been the complete end of the world.

No, she was saving that kind of title for when the two grew older and would more than likely really start to take after them.

Until then though, she had to fit Canto into his shirt, put Apollo's shoes back on for the second time and help Sentaro with his uniform. Again.


	18. Chojiro Gonryōmaru

**March in Time**

_Chojiro - Gonryōmaru_

They were destined to be stuck together for the rest of their lives, assigned to be one another's greatest sense of strength and power... and yet, it felt like it would be a lifetime of Hell for him.

They were polar opposites in almost every aspect. Where he wanted to showcase their combined power and make people realize how strong they could be... this man who was supposed to be his master preferred to take the quiet path and refused to be provoked. It even broke down to just personal preferences as well; he enjoyed eastern traditions, while this man preferred the simplicity of western ones. There were days where he absolutely refused to cooperate with the man and it didn't seem to phase him the least bit. They went nearly two weeks without speaking and he didn't even seem to notice.

He was certain this arrangement was some kind of punishment for something he might've done in another life.

_"You're just going to let them speak to you like that?" he questioned, following briskly at the man's side. "They don't even deserve to look at you-"_

_"Calm down." Chojiro assured, focusing more so on the tasks he was in the middle of; the rough tone in the Zanpakuto's voice gave away to his irritation at the occasional calls that radiated behind them. It wasn't the first time officers on the training fields tried to provoke the two of them into battle and it certainly wouldn't be the last, but he didn't bother with the absence of proper behavior. "It's not worth falling to their taunts."_

_Pausing in mid-step at the words, he watched as the man continued ahead of him like this conversation was nothing; like those were the final words to this argument. It irritated him to no end... just like that, he would let those lower officers say what they wanted about them as though their freedom of speech extended that far. "You're pathetic, do you know that?"_

_"You've told me plenty of times before."_

Even down to the color of their eyes... they were completely opposite.

It was never going to work out. He was going to be stuck in this senseless sword with all this power and no way of expressioning it for the rest of their combined eternity.

This was the same man who, during that adrenaline rush of their rebellion, encountered Minazuki, Sōgyo no Kotowari, and Katen Kyōkotsu all at once and the only thing he suffered from was a minor case of cardiac arrest. Any other person would've been destroyed by their combined energy presence alone, but he preserved long enough to pass off a warning before he collapsed. There was never a moment where he felt so free from his sickening confines than during those few hours of their rebellion. It had felt amazing to showcase his strength and interact with the other spirits, realizing then that he hadn't been the only one who felt trapped.

When it was over though, it felt like nothing had changed even in the slightest.

At that point, he felt like fighting wasn't worth it anymore.

It would be easier to just sit around and be worthless than waste his energy trying to get this stubborn fool to change his mind.

An opportunity was given to them though- at least that's how he had seen it, the other man saw it more as an unfortunate turn of events. They were the first and last line of defense though, where all others were too busy with minor threats, their combined sight pointed them to the main enemy. With the Society under immediate attack and no one else to respond, he was given the freedom he always wanted. He didn't bother to hold himself back, figuring this was the only chance he would be given, and went all out to provide a show with his vibrant energy and electric storm.

The confrontation didn't last long and he was almost disappointed that he was able to overpower the threat so easily. But this step of freedom was all the more worth it... even if it did come with a cost.

He wasn't sure if it was the solemn expression that the First Lieutenant shared or his lack of words that followed the battle... something told him that there wasn't something to celebrate here. At first, he thought it was because he didn't wish for him to be released as such, which angered him; then he noticed the destruction that laid around him. In the midst of giving way to his power, he had summoned a storm powerful enough to destroy a lot of the environment around them. He bore witness to how the ground gave way to a mudslide and how it wiped out several sections of the Division barracks nearby; it had been strong enough to shove the houses from their foundations and leave a crumpled mess behind.

The sight began to piece explanations together in his head and brought him to a short realization. The two of them had worked for this Society for years, fighting to protect it and doing everything they could to maintain its peace and prosperity... but their combined powers were strong enough to destroy it if they so wished. The other spirits could set flames and bring threats to their knees but their power needed to destroy everything around them in order to charge. When he had summoned that storm to keep aid to his strength, the stronger he became, the stronger the storm did as well... wrecking havoc on the city around them.

In order to protect this city, they had to destroy it too.

It wasn't an excuse to ignore him, but... at least it gave him a reason and another step closer to understanding this man.

"Is this what you were trying to tell to me?" Gonryōmaru questioned. "After all these years?"

"I didn't think you would understand, nor did I think you would care much for the answer." Chojiro started, feeling how the heavy wash of rain soaked right through his uniform and froze against his skin. He didn't bother to try and wipe the water from his eyes, at this point he had gotten far too used to this feeling of being drenched. "I can tell that I was wrong in that assumption though and for that I apologize."

"I think we can agree that we've both been rather arrogant towards one another."

"Perhaps this kind of link between us will no longer be as disaster as we had believed."

No... no perhaps not.


	19. AU SzayelNemu

**Crossfire**

_Szayel/Nemu_

"So... where did you meet her again?"

A soft roll of his eyes followed the question as he brought the warm, ceramic cup to his lips and took a short taste of the almost bitter coffee inside of it. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered to bring up this subject in the first place... he supposed it just felt like new he needed to share with someone; even if that someone had the IQ of a standard rock. "Oh you know, where most people meet women."

The blonde-haired man who sat across from him narrowed his eyes briefly as though in thought, which was a dangerous action for him to be doing out in public; he had the potential to hurt himself after all. Still, he seemed to be trying hard for an answer. "On the internet?"

And his answer was less than satisfactory.

He had to keep himself from saying anything too excessive... eventually having to give into a sharp groan; fingers moving to pinch the space between his eyes. "No, Yylfordt, that's just how you meet those... 'women' of yours. If you could call them that anyways."

"Hey, hey... just because I date some wild women, that doesn't give you the right to call them otherwise." he defended.

"I wouldn't say you're 'dating' them, knowing how you run your 'relationships.'" he nitpicked. "Also, should I mention that just because they're twins, doesn't necessarily mean you can 'date' both of them at the same time."

"Yes well, for your information, they're both aware of it and they actually find the whole thing exotic. And dating isn't the only thing I do with them at the same time."

How the man was considered to even be in the same gene pool as him, let alone in the same family tree, was beyond his knowledge. With the exception of the matching almond-shape of their eyes and the occasional psychotic laugh... they had little else in common. The man across from him had long, yellow locks that fell over his broad shoulders in an unruly sheet; his darker eyes helped to offset the rest of his rather pale color scheme. He preferred the tighter-fitted shirts with the deep cut down his chest, revealing deep collarbones and a small scar on the side of his neck.

It contrasted with his neatly cut and styled pink strands that were pushed to follow the curve of his right jawline. His lighter, Amber eyes were more fitting but resided behind a handpicked pair of white frames that half balanced on the bridge of his nose.

"This is why I never ask about your love life."

"I'll be sure to tell Ying and Yang that you said hey." Yylfordt replied, one hand moving to push aside the bangs that had fallen into his face. "But we weren't talking about those two ladies-"

"If you want to call them that." he interrupted.

"Shut up, Szayel."

A brief chuckle escaped him as he finally managed to rile the man's thin nerves. It wasn't exactly something he had set out to accomplish that morning, but he wasn't one to miss out on an open opportunity either. Setting his cup aside, he slowly rotated it around with just his fingertips, watching as the dark liquid splashed about inside. "We met on the fifth floor in the labs."

"Brother, I'm going to be serious with you here... I don't think it's safe to be meeting women in those labs you work at." he advised, pushing himself away from the table to lean back in the chair underneath him. "I mean, you don't know if she could be some kind of mutated lab experiment that managed to kill a worker, take their uniform and perfectly assume their identity."

"Well, she has a nice personality, so I'd be willing to fall for it." he retorted, giving another roll of his eyes at the man's ridiculous statement. "First off, those labs don't even run experiments like that; we're legally not allowed to condone human testing, which is a bit of a disappointment really. I'd volunteer you to be a part of one."

"The thing that frightens me most is that I know you would."

He couldn't defend himself on that one. It wouldn't be the first time he might've risked the man's safety just for the hell of it. After all, it was more fun to risk a life when it wasn't his own.

"We have a date planned for Friday. I haven't decided on where I'm going to take her yet though."

"I heard the mental asylum down the street has a pretty good cafeteria."

"Shut up, asshole."

It was the other man's turn to chuckle as he moved to knit his hands behind his head; it must've been so nice for him to have turned the tables a little bit. "What's her name at least? You haven't told me anything about her other than she works in the same building as you and... she has a great personality apparently. On a scale of one to ten, how attractive is she? Because in order to balance out a great personality-"

"Her name is Kurotsuchi and that's all the information I'm going to give you."

"So I'm thinking of like a low three then?"

At any other time, he probably would've shattered this coffee cup over the man's face and then leisurely carved it with a broken shard... but the most he could manage at the moment was a short grin of some sort. "I don't know, why don't you tell me."

His eyes narrowed again at the sudden change of expression. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Mr. Granz, what a pleasant surprise."

The third voice took the blonde-haired man's immediate attention as he moved to glance over one shoulder and looked back at the dark-haired woman who approached their table. Her midnight-black strands were pulled back in a meticulous manner and formed a tightly crossed braid that swung along the curve of her lower back. A matching black business suit hugged her wide hips while the less than knee-length skirt helped to show off the long legs she had fitted into a pair of dark heels; her fitted jacket was pulled up around her neck but still gave enough space to hint at the red choker she wore underneath it.

If anything, she was the small call of attention for most of the patrons in the cafe around them.

"Likewise, Lady Kurotsuchi." he nodded. "However, I must state that your approach is rather awkward... you could technically say we're both 'Mr. Granz' here."

"Is that so?" she questioned lightly.

The blonde-haired man shot him a look of almost annoyance before he moved to push himself to his feet. "You'll have to excuse me for a moment, I have a call to take."

He watched as the man made his way across the cafe floor, eventually disappearing through one of the side doors; the brief catch of him pulling his phone loose from his pocket made his sudden departure seem excused for once. Shaking his head with a brief chuckle, he turned his attention back to the other woman. "You'll have to excuse him, he hates being caught off-guard like that."

She turned her Emerald-green eyes towards him while the corners of her lips offered a small smile. "Is that so? Then perhaps I should have waited until after your conversation was finished."

"Nonsense. After all, he seemed curious to know all about the date I'm taking you out on at the end of this week."

A light chuckle moved from her lips before she moved a few steps closer to him; one hand moved forward to catch lightly on his chin. "It's been three years since our first date and you're just now telling him about it?"

"He needs a careful lead up, that's all."


	20. ChojiroMomo II

_**This Love Again**_

_Chojiro/Momo_

"Come now, stay close, be careful." he quietly ushered as he carried himself down the open corridor. Eyes briefly looking down to the matching white-haired child that hugged tightly to one of his legs. She hid behind him as another Division member passed them by and attempted to keep herself obscure by running from side to side to keep away from the strange people who passed them by. The motion almost tripped him a few times but he had to chuckle to himself at her antics.

Keeping his steps paced, he paused slightly at the large, double doors that served as the entrance to the next portion of the Division barracks. For someone who had acted nervous before, he watched as the child stepped free from behind him and moved to examine the door herself before she pushed lightly against it- as though more curious as to what was on the other side now. He moved to press his hands against the solid oak before he started to push them from the frame, watching as the girl quickly retreated to behind him once more. Shaking his head lightly, he stepped in through the open doorway and made his way into the massive room that laid out in front of them.

The well-aged man that resided on the other side of the room glanced up briefly from the work in front of them before he moved to set the papers aside. His wrinkled face, partly hidden underneath the white beard that decorated the lower half of it, took a moment to study him before a gracious smile took to his expression.

"Sasakibe... it's been awhile."

"Indeed it has, Captain Yamamoto." he nodded, returning the given expression. "I apologize for the wait; it's apparently possible for five years to pass by without much notice."

It was hard to believe it had been that long already... it seemed like just a few days ago he was departing for the given mission; it was decided before the mission had been given out that it would be longer than the standard task, that it could last upwards of months into years. He accepted it without hesitation when most recommendations pointed to him- well to say it was without hesitation would be of ill, untruthful words; it took some persuading from the First Captain to convince him to go and a few words of assurance that he was needed more for this task than he was here.

Still, he was all the more happy to be back now. There was plenty of work to do and catch up on... after a five-year absence, he had no doubts there was a list of things for him to start on; or perhaps some dust to take care of in his office.

"And just who is this?"

He glanced down once more and watched as the girl stepped out from behind him for a second time; her chocolate-brown eyes completely fixated on the things around her, but more so on the other man. White locks of hair had been pulled back into the messy bun while a few longer strands fell into her soft face. She didn't bother to push them aside and simply stared through the parting locks. A pale-blue dress seemed to play on the matching shade of nail polish that decorated her hands and feet, courtesy of her mother this morning; white, open-toed shoes had been fitted on with some difficulty but helped to complete the casual look. It was a few steps forward before she looked back to him as though to see what his plan of action was going to be, in which case he slowly moved to echo her steps.

"Her name is Iris."

She continued to walk ahead of him, more so out of curiosity now as all else no longer mattered.

It didn't take long for the older man to make the connection before a faint chuckle seemed to escape him. "Iris... that's a beautiful name."

"It's been a long time... I thought now would be the right opportunity to let the two of you meet." he started, pausing now as he let the girl run ahead of him. He watched as she stumbled slightly over a small fold in the rug underfoot but she caught herself easily and continued on.

The First Captain moved to push himself away from his desk and to his feet, still able to move with ease and an uncanny sense of grace despite his age. "You know, when I recommended you for that mission, the only outcome from it I had considered was you coming back with a positive report."

He heard himself chuckle at the remark and figured the man made a good point on the matter, then again he hadn't really been expecting anything different from that assumption either. But as he stood watching as the young girl walked up to the older Captain and stopped just a few inches from where he was standing... there were no other outcomes that could have warranted this kind of feeling. "I suppose in a way you could say I did just that."

"In a sense, yes."

The smaller girl cocked her head to one side for a moment before she reached one hand up towards the taller man; a small hand that was carefully taken into a larger one. "Iris..."

"Yamamoto."

It seemed to take a moment before a smile found its way to her lips. "You have a funny beard. How long did it take for you to grow out?"

"A long, long time."

"Like a million years?"

"Ha ha, Iris, sweetheart, let's not get carried away."


End file.
